Kinda Last Minute

Mary and I are having a few people over tomorrow night for drinks and Gumbo, but also to watch the best Christmas movie ever, Christmas Vacation. You are all welcome to come over around 6:30 - 7:00. My cell# is 414-6780.

This Week In Beer... Pt. 2

Another installment of what sorts of liquid goodness have been seen around town lately:

At Total Wine
* Affligem Noel
* Delirium Noel
* Avery DuganA IPA
* Avery The Czar Imperial Stout
* Southern Tier Krampus Imperial Helles Lager
* Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale
* Magic Hat Howl Black Lager
* Bell's Winter White Ale
* Bell's Java Stout
* Bell's Cherry Stout
* Victory Old Horizontal Ale
At Whole Foods:
* Bell's Two Hearted Ale 5L Mini Kegs
* Avery 16th Anniversary Ale

The Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head collaboration "Life & Limb" sold out quickly at TW, but rumor is the Drop In store behind Horizon Records is getting a case in today...

So...had any of these yet? What did you think?
-Ryan

When are we bottling?

I think the Rye needs to go in the bottle.  Likewise for the Saison.  Prob can't even happen until early next week, but we need to be thinking about this!

Edgar Allen Poe

Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain.
Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away.
What care I how time advances;
I am drinking ale today.

Homebrewtalk Help on the Saison

I posted for some advice/help on our Saison at Homebrewtalk...follow that conversation here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/saison-tastes-foul-149638/#post1710245

Recipe #7 - Ommegang Clone

This was brewed on November 28th, and was our 7th batch. The recipe:

5 lb. 9.6 oz. Pilsner malt
2.25 lb. aromatic malt
1 lb. 6.4 oz. crystal 20
2.25 lb. Briess Special Roast malt (50 Lovibond)
2 lbs dark candi sugar
6.25 AAU Styrian Goldings (60 min) (1.25 oz. of 5% alpha acids)
.33 oz. Styrian Goldings (0 min)
2 pkgs Wyeast 1214 (Trappist Yeast)

This was our first 'step mash'. We started with 5.5 gallons in the pot, and brought it to just over 113. Added the grains, took off the heat, and covered for 15 minutes. We brought it back to the heat, raised the temp to just over 144, then covered for 15 more minutes. We followed that same process for these temperatures/times:

113 degrees: 15 minutes
144 degrees: 15 minutes
154 degrees: 15 minutes
162 degrees: 10 minutes
169 degrees: 5 minutes

We then sparged about 1.5 gallons of water at 170 degrees into the wort. Estimated volume at this point was about 5 gallons.

We brought the wort to a roiling boil, then started a 90 minute boil. The Styrian Goldings went in at 60 minutes, and again at 0 minutes. We had a significant boil off, of approx 1 gallon.

From here, the wort was chilled. We let it come down naturally, for a bit, before transferring to an ice bath to bring down quicker. Approx half a gallon of water was added to the carboy, along with the wort. OSG was high: 1.093. The estimated OSG for this recipe was 1.074. I believe this was due to a more concentrated wort. We probably have about 4 gallons in the carboy.

Pitched the yeast, 2 pkgs, at around 75 degrees. Aerated the wort, and capped with the airlock. Fermentation was going around 12 hours later, when I checked. I think this one will be good, but will be very hot...if we can get down to the estimated final gravity of 1.013, we will be in the 9% range of ABVs.

Recipe #6 - Rye Ale

I believe we brewed the Rye Ale, our 6th recipe, on the 21st of November (we need to bottle this guy, fellas). I'm a little fuzzy on the details, since we didn't get it on the blog in a timely manner. I'll try to duplicate to the best of my knowledge...The recipe was modified for a 3 gallon batch:

6.14lb Pale Malt
1.36lb Rye Malt
.34lb Cara Pils
.34lb Crystal Malt 40L
.75oz Sterling @ 60 min
.5oz Sterling @ 15 min
.25oz Willamette @ 0 min
American Ale II yeast

This brew session went very well. We mashed at approx 158 degrees, with about 2 gallons, as I recall. Sparged around 172 degrees, with another 2 gallons of water.

The boil was a 60 minute. For some reason, I think we were short of the actual hops, by a little bit. We had a 1 oz package, but needed 1.25 oz of Sterling.

After the boil, we cooled things down in an ice bath, and pitched at around 75 degrees. I believe our OSG was approx 1.055.

Fermentation was quick, and was heavy. Our small carboy could not handle the trub, and we had some spew through the airlock. After things calmed down, I pulled the airlock and cleaned it.

Overall, I think this was a very successful brewing, even if the details are a little lost. The beer has good flavor, in it's fermenting state, though might be a little lighter in body that we wanted. This should be bottled soon.